Vintage Hollywood films and stars

THE GOLDEN AGE. 90 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL FILM POSTERS

I wasn’t in Kansas or New York or even Hollywood , but I was in a room surrounded by original film posters in blazing colour – HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, FLYING DOWN TO RIO, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, KEY LARGO, TO CATCH A THIEF and many more from around the world.

The Compass Gallery (www.compassgallery.co.uk) in Glasgow made my week with their exhibition (9 June – 2 July,2016) of original classic film posters.

The Gallery has over 200 original film posters, all highly collectible, and with prices to match! I could only look and enjoy .

“In the 1990s a Boris Karloff poster for THE MUMMY 1932 sold for $452,000 in Sotheby’s New York. This sale really was instrumental in not only bringing film poster art to a wider audience, but also elevating it to a serious art form.”

To see these beautiful posters makes you appreciate the unsung artists , both in Hollywood and abroad, who very rarely get the credit due to them.

So, if you can, get along to the Compass Gallery , or check them out online. Their telephone number is 0141 221 6370.

I know I will be back for a second look. An opportunity like this isn’t to be missed. Now if only the local Film Theatre had programmed some of the films illustrated here.

What I must do is is browse through the 1988 book “Reel Art, Great Posters From the Golden Age of the Silver Screen”. It is the best book about the history of poster art .